제주평화연구원

  The US Government administers foreign assistance to every country in Southeast Asia, even those that have had long-term isolationist and even hostile governments.1) USAID has or has had a presence in Malaysia, Laos, Cambodia, the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia and Thailand and has recently reopened the mission to Burma. 2)

Indonesia

  In 2010, the only country in Southeast Asia to receive more than $300 million in economic assistance was Indonesia. 3) The USAID-funded Partnership for Economic Growth (PEG) project was an effort to fiscally decentralize subnational governments in Indonesia. Such development activities are not unusual in post-authoritarian or even authoritarian societies such as the Philippines and the People’s Republic of China. By emphasizing local and regional governments’ abilities to carry out fiscal responsibilities, efficiency gains emerge and local governments control more revenue.4)   Another project, the Local Governance Support Program, which concluded in 2009, attempted to integrate civil society, governance, and local public administration subsectors. 5)

Cambodia

  USAID began human rights programs in Cambodia in the early 1990s, a country still recovering from political violence by an extremist regime (the Khmer Rouge) and occupation by a foreign country in Vietnam. 6) Taking this history into account, USAID project officers designed the Cambodian Program on Rights and Justice (PRAJ) to increase human rights advocacy, direct legal representation and professional development for lawyers and magistrates as well government judicial institutions like Ministry of Justice and Ministry of Interior. 7) A typical strategy for USAID in implementing such a program is partnering with existing local non-governmental organizations (NGOs), in this instance, public service, human rights and legal aid organizations. 8) Local NGOs sitting in civil society and outside the state are frequently brought to bear as effective development implementers when a country’s government is too weak or corrupt to function as a partner.

  The US Government and USAID in particular have a strong and successful track record in assisting developing countries in East Asia in reforming their respective economies and political systems. In Southeast Asia, USAID is now applying the lessons learned and best practices from years of work in South Korea, Taiwan and even Japan. This way, Asia can not only accelerate its growth and status as one of the most vibrant and important parts of the world but it can help other less fortunate regions of the world to do so as well.

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1) USAID has administered limited education and health programs to refugees on the Thailand/Burma border, and disaster assistance. See Richard Kraft. 2004. Thailand/Burma health and education activities review: Education sector final report..

2) See “USAID Swears in First Mission Director to Burma in 24 Years”. USAID Official Blog. September 5, 2012.

3) See “USAID Overseas Loans and Grants Foreign Assistance Fast Facts. 2010”.

4) Trujillo, Horatio R. 2000. Local government revenue strategies: Recognizing pitfalls in the intergovernmental fiscal reform experiences of China and the Philippines. P. 7.

5) Local governance support program (LGSP): final project report. 2009. USAID.

6) Evaluation of the Program on Rights and Justice (PRAJ): Final Report. 2008. USAID. P. 64.

7) Ibid. P. 4.

8) Ibid. P. 8.

 

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Michael ARDOVINO is the Senior Researcher on Democracy and Governance at the United States Agency for International Development’s Knowledge Services Center in Washington D.C. He studied political science at the University of Texas at Austin, the University of North Texas and the Catholic University of America. He has published in such journals as Comparative Strategy, The Journal of Slavic Military Studies and Demokratizatsiya: The Journal of Post-Soviet Democratization. His dissertation research focused on European accession and popular support for political and economic integration.